Photography by Mike Valore

Tag Archives: Donostia

San Sebastian is located on Spain’s north coast less than 20 miles from the border with France. The city is also known as Donostia. There are two names and two languages noted for just about everything as this area is part of the semi-autonomous Basque region. Basque language uses the letter X frequently. You’ll notice it for sure. We stayed at Hotel Leku Eder which had beautiful ocean views and very comfortable rooms. From here you can catch the bus to just about anywhere in the town. Overall we spent three days and two nights here. Probably enough time unless you are planning to hit all of the top restaurants to be found. Akelare, Martin Berasategui and Mugaritz are also top establishments that we just didn’t have the time or the $ to dine in.

After arriving, we took the bus down to the opposite side of the bay to try Pintxos – small bites. Dinner here if not at a top end restaurant, can easily consist of a few small plates at a bar accompanied by a glass of wine – repeating until full.

After returning from lunch at Asador Etxebarri on day 2 (see previous post), we basically repeated the night of day 1. There are many pintxo bars to try, each with a different variety of plates and wines.

On our last day, we hiked to the top of Monte Urgull which provides a nice view of the bay from the fortress at the top. The walk along the coastline at the base of Monte Urgull is also a nice stroll. After a day on the town we dressed up and made our way to Arzak – another of the top restaurants in the world.